As described in the last three posts, perimenopause is a time in a woman’s life associated with many symptoms and health impacts. Thus far I have reviewed lifestyle modifications and hormone treatments that are helpful during this transition. This post addresses other medical interventions that […]
Category: The Basics
WHAT IS PERIMENOPAUSE? Part Three: Hormone Management
Initiating HRT during perimenopause is a subject that needs more attention. This is because the current guidelines and traditional thinking about taking hormone replacement generally apply to women who have reached menopause – meaning they have gone 12 months without a menstrual period. However, many […]
WHAT IS PERIMENOPAUSE? Part two: Lifestyle Measures
My previous post described the cause of perimenopause, the hormonal changes that occur and how these impact some of our major body systems. Many of these effects – such as hot flashes, sleep disturbance, mood changes and vaginal symptoms – negatively affect a woman’s quality […]
WHAT IS PERIMENOPAUSE? Part one
Menopause and menopause-related issues are appearing more frequently in the media. As part of this we are hearing more about perimenopause. Many women are uncertain about what this term actually means, so it seems timely to go into more depth about this stage of the […]
What is bioidentical hormone therapy?
When women go through menopause their bodies no longer make two important female hormones – estradiol and progesterone. Since the loss of these hormones causes a number of symptoms as well as medical consequences, many women are interested in replacing these hormones. This is what […]
How do estrogens work?
If you have an inquiring mind you may wonder how it is that estrogens, or any other hormone or drug for that matter, actually do the things they do in the body. I find this aspect of medicine fascinating and admire the dedicated researchers who […]
What is progesterone and how safe is it?
When we talk about female hormones, we immediately think of estrogen and frequently don’t give much attention to the other major hormone involved in the female reproductive system – progesterone. Progesterone is like the little sister of estrogen. It compliments and does a lot of […]
What is menopause (and the other phases before and after)?
Technically, the term menopause refers to the point in time when a woman is no longer fertile and when the last viable egg has been released. It’s pretty amazing that we’re born with over 3 million eggs nestled in our ovaries and by the time […]
What kinds of hormones are the best?
By the time we reach menopause, our ovaries have pretty much quit producing the two major types of female hormones – estrogen and progesterone. There is still a small amount of these hormones circulating in our systems, but at levels far lower than during our […]